| a white, deliquescent, water-soluble solid, NaOH, usually in the form of lumps, sticks, chips, or pellets, that upon solution in water generates heat: used chiefly in the manufacture of other chemicals, rayon, film, soap, as a laboratory reagent, and in medicine as a caustic. |
| sodium hydroxide n. A strongly alkaline compound, NaOH, used in the manufacture of chemicals and soaps and in petroleum refining. Also called caustic soda, lye. |
sodium hydroxide n.
A strongly alkaline compound used externally. Also called caustic soda.
| sodium hydroxide
A white, corrosive, solid compound that absorbs water and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and forms lye when in solution. Sodium hydroxide is toxic and strongly alkaline and is used to make chemicals and soaps and to refine petroleum. Chemical formula: NaOH. |
